Published: November 11, 2009 10:11 pm      

Gohmert pays tribute to veterans

POYNOR — POYNOR — Thanking and honoring veterans who have served through the ages, Congressman Louie Gohmert paid tribute to the nation’s founding fathers, and those who fought to preserve that legacy.

“We have the freedom and the liberties we do in this country because of the sacrifice and the willingness (to serve) of those who’ve gone before us,” Gohmert said during the LaPoynor Independent School District’s Veterans Day program.

Gohmert, a veteran himself and a member of the House of Representatives, painted a picture of the sacrifice the founders of the United States endured and the idealism they embodied when they formed the nation.

In a world of chaos, Gohmert noted there are people who will and take liberty away from a free people, and quoting from Thomas Jefferson, Gohmert said, “Freedom requires eternal vigilance,” then thanked the veterans for their diligence in serving.

He also compared all American veterans to arguably the country’s most celebrated veteran — George Washington.

“On Dec. 27, 1776 the Continental Congress gave Washington the authority to do what needed to be done to win the Revolutionary War,” Gohmert noted. “They (Congress) knew he wouldn’t abuse that power and that he would give it back...

“Never had anybody won a revolution, then resigned and gone home. After the war was won, that man (Washington) at that moment said, ‘here’s all the power back, I’m going home — never has that happened before or since.”

That’s when Gohmert drew his comparison.

“He (Washington) set an example followed by all (veterans) who hear the call to duty,” Gohmert said. “They step up and man their weapon and fight for their country.

“When the battle is over they hang up their weapons and go home. They don’t ask for much in return, just don’t forget what’s been done — now that’s not too much to ask.”

The willingness to sacrifice that a veteran has, has no better example than in the life of Jesus Christ, Gohmert told the crowd.

“Jesus knew what sacrifice was about,” Gohmert said. “He said, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,’ He knew what that meant.”

Veterans exemplify that sacrifice, Gohmert said, recalling a young man from Pennsylvania, Ross McGinnis, a private in the Army, who jumped on a grenade in Iraq, saving four people in a Humvee, two of them from Gohmert’s East Texas district.

Gohmert said he was at the funeral of McGinnis, and also there when his parents were presented with his Congressional Medal of Honor, and that’s when he realized the importance of Veterans Day and Memorial Day, when he saw McGinnis’ platoon sergeant kneel before the private’s remains.

“Sgt. Thomas knelt in front of Ross’ remains and put his hands up on the remains and he began to pray,” Gohmert said tearfully. “The others who were with him (in the Humvee) began to pray. They thanked God for Ross, and they thanked Ross for saving their lives.

“Veterans Day and Memorial Day is a day when we kneel and thank God for those who came willing to serve and thank God, and them for their sacrifice.”